1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to direct current (DC)-to-alternating current (AC) power inversion and, more particularly, to a system and method for efficiently managing to use of DC-to-AC power inversion during a critical peak pricing (CPP) period.
2. Description of the Related Art
When an electric utility declares a “Critical Peak Pricing (CPP)” period, the price of electricity may increase significantly (e.g., by more than a factor of 10). The normal practice of the rate payer is to reduce their electric consumption as much as practical. Often, a commercial entity may close down operations during these periods. If the customer (usually a commercial account) has a battery system designed to lower their peak energy demand, the battery system may discharge during the CPP interval to help reduce energy consumption.
The normal operation of a battery system performing a peak reduction operation is to monitor the electric energy used by the facility as measured by the “grid meter”. The battery system will normally discharge the battery system onto the facilities electric system whenever the facility's electric load reaches a target limit. The reduction in the facility's monthly electric bill can be significantly reduced by the battery system maintaining the reduced peak electric load as compared to the peak electric load without the battery system.
It would be advantageous if a battery control mechanism existed that permitted the battery system to hold down the peak energy demand, as expressed in dollars per kilowatt, which has a separate expense rate than CPP, while using any excess battery capacity to reduce the energy consumption expenses during the CPP interval.